Prospect works OT for tie with Elk Grove
Elk Grove stayed unbeaten this girls soccer season, but it wasn’t easy.
The Grens (5-0-1, 2-0-1) withstood considerable second-half pressure from visiting Prospect on Wednesday night to earn a 1-1 draw with their division counterpart, who are in the middle of a 3-game stretch against Mid-Suburban East opponents.
“We’ve got to finish our chances,” said Grens coach Dan Klaus after two additional 10-minute sessions were completed to end a long, cold and windy night of soccer in Elk Grove. “We had opportunities to put a few more into the back of the net, but their keeper (Megan McCabe) made a couple of very good saves, and we didn’t defend the goal very well, and that’s why this match ended the way it did.”
The Knights started briskly, thanks in part to the forward trio of Jesse Petrovski, Kelly Iovino and Elena Cukors, who appeared to be in the center of everything while keeping their opponents pinned down and thus rarely finding Kelli Hubly, one of the top strikers in the area.
“Megan (McCabe) plays club with some of their players, and she helped us prepare to play one of the top teams in our conference, so I really felt we came out ready to play tonight,” said Iovino.
While the Knights (2-2-2, 1-2-1) enjoyed the run of play in the early going, Hubly proved to be the most dangerous player. Proof of that was her blast off the bar at eight minutes, and later, when Nikki Zaino helped send her off to the races up the right side, which ended with the senior going wide of McCabe at the near post.
But the Kentucky-bound Hubly fired her team into the lead in the 28th minute when Zaino once again put her through up the side. This time, with a quick burst Hubly put a pair of defenders out of reach before driving a low shot past a diving McCabe.
“We didn’t have a really good start tonight, but we had some chances and we should have put in at least a couple more goals,” said Hubly, who now has 10 this spring.
The visitors regrouped after the Hubly goal and pushed forward for the final 10 minutes before intermission, with Iovino having the lion’s share of touches for the Knights in the middle of the park, two of which were sent on frame and at freshman keeper Melissa Solorio, who stopped both and later was called on again to turn away more quality attempts.
The second half began fast and furious, with Petrovski, on the turn twice sending shots at Solorio. At the other end, Hubly, on the counter with teammate Kelly Naughton, put a shot over the net.
McCabe came off her line to cut the angle on the onrushing Hubly in the 65th minute to stop another Grens chance. That sequence led to the game’s second goal, which went the way of the visitors four minutes later when Sarah LaCost thumped home the equalizer.
After Petrovski was fouled, freshman Mary Rose Pettenuzzo kept things alive with a lovely ball into the area. Adriane Falagario watched her shot saved by Solorio — but it was off the bar, where Cukurs did her best to keep the ball in the 6-yard box for LaCost to finish.
“The team didn’t give up, even when we got down a goal,” said Iovino, who moments later had a chance before Grens all-state sweeper Katie Naughton tracked back and ended the threat.
Both OT periods produced little, although the second did see play get a little more chippy and frantic as fatigue and the desire to win in sensational style inspired both sides.
“It was a game we could have won, but we just didn’t do the things we needed to,” said Hubly. “We’ve got to get better at possessing the ball, and with our touch if we hope to get better results.”